Distribution of audio, imagery, graphics, and video on the internet is quick and simple. While advantageous in most respects, this ease of distribution makes it difficult for proprietors of such materials to track the uses to which their audio/imagery/graphics/video are put. It also allows such properties to be copied illicitly, in violation of the proprietors' copyrights.
The present invention seeks to redress these drawbacks by monitoring internet dissemination of various properties, and reporting the results back to their proprietors. If an unauthorized copy of a work is detected, appropriate steps can be taken to remove the copy, or compensate the proprietor accordingly.
In accordance with one method of the present invention, empirical data sets (e.g. audio, imagery, video) are downloaded from computer sites over the internet. Each of several data sets obtained in this fashion is automatically screened to identify the potential presence of steganographically encoded identification data. For these, the method discerns the encoded steganographically encoded identification data, if any, present in the data sets. A report is then generated, identifying the steganographically encoded empirical data sets, and the internet site from which each was downloaded.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.